Quote Originally Posted by Sinan
For the Citadel do this:

1. Build farm level 1.
2. Build port/shipwright series to maximum.
3. Build Farms to level 3.

I'm assuming raods are already at maximum.

fenrir If the intention is to maximise income quickly I think a good way to go is build roads +1, then farms +1 -> ports +2 -> farms +3 -> markets +2 -> roads +2 -> roads +3 (modded highways from RTW) then everything else. This is a proven way to maximise income, you can read about it in the 1st link I posted. This will neglect religion and law, but will boost your income. The way you posted is the more balanced way.
How on Earth does Roads-1 always end up so early on the economic build list? Has anyone actually judged the in-game effect against what the description says it should do? I have never seen Roads-1 affect my income in any significant way, and it's almost certain that its effect is bugged (it provides no bonus to trade income, regardless of what its description may tell you). If there's a real reason to build it so early, I'd love for someone to explain why.

Concerning what economic buildings are best, here's my take:

Farms: Generally, a farming upgrade will add 50 or so florins to your income. This means the 600 florin farm turns a profit in 12 turns, at which point it begins producing 50 florins of profit for the settlement. It was doing that for the previous 12 turns, of course, it's just that for economic purposes we consider those turns to have been spent paying for the farm, so profits begin on the 13th turn. The 2nd farm, 1200 florins, will already take 24 turns to pay itself off, which is a lot as we'll see from other buildings. The first farm level turns over pretty decently, but the later ones are really long-term investments, and will primarily be used to promote growth (and thus taxes) as opposed to direct economic gain.

Mines: IIRC, mines usually produce at least 200 florins, and cost 2000. Thus, they begin making profit after 10 turns usually, less if they rake in more than 200. So they turn profit earlier than farms, and it is typically much more profit too, being > 200 generally. Mines are key economic buildings.

Ports: The port series grants export routes to the settlement, which are worth 100 florins and up generally. It also adds a base trade bonus. As a result the 800 florin Port generally pays for itself in 8 or less turns, turning a healthy 100+ florin profit every turn thereafter. This series is the basis of all trade, and should always be built before any other trade-increasing buildings available. Note that the settlement details scroll lies to you about how much income they will generate - what it displays is only the result of the trade bonus, and doesn't include the far more substantial benefit of the new trade route it will grant.

Market & Wharf series: They're really 2 separate lines, but do about the same thing - they increase base trade. Generally they compete with farms for status as least-favored economic building, as the benefits are even less than equivalent-cost farms in the early game. They'll get built eventually, but generally should not be until other superior economic options like mines and ports are exhausted. Note that the first level market lets you train merchants and grants +1 to the merchant cap, so if you intend to build merchants early you'll have to sacrifice the more sound early-game benefit of other options to do so. Also note that the first farm building is probably a better economic investment than the first market building, but as soon as you get some reasonable trade going the market buildings will generally do better than same-cost farms. You can queue them up and check the appropriate area of the settlement details screen to figure out which is currently better if you need to.

Roads: I'll be waiting for a reply to my earlier comment about these before I delve into them.